Everything that has happened in the world is a part of history, however, it is not necessarily in History. What we are taught and told is filtered through the perspective of those who are doing the teaching and telling — and these are often individuals in privileged positions. This, ultimately reflects how and what we…
Between the mirror and the self-portrait; there is a great abyss. Like still life, portraits and self-portraits are great classics in art history. Portraits were commissioned by people of great importance — and who could afford to do so — to mark their presence in the history of families and monarchies. Just as artists would…
At times we are a little selfish where our experiences and sensitivity are concerned. I recognised this as soon as I was little, when I started playing the piano. I always valued my own experience, my own perfectionism. I should be very clear and exact to myself. Time, of course, passes by — and rightly…
Ways of relating to, and relationships with our surroundings and spaces will always be present. The memories of these are kept and little by little — throughout our lives — are exhibited, justified, materialised or simply disappear. Memories are parts that connect us as human beings; some researchers say that memories are a set of…
Some time ago, I lived in a city that had already been destroyed a few times over. The reasons have always been similar—strong winds coupled with the wide-spread use of candles by the population mean fires spread easily. The result? A city destroyed and rebuilt again and again. And while the destruction has always been…
I believe that art has two incredible capacities—that of stagnation and that of giving movement. I could argue more about it, give explanations through sculpture or compare Renaissance art to expressionist or abstract art. That would, in essence support the theory of my opening thoughts. It turns out that when talking about contemporary art, these…
Several terms in Brazilian Portuguese originate from the time of slavery—used continuously, each day they become more detached from the meaning of their origins—seeming to fall into oblivion and become other things. They are terminologies that change, but when looked at closely it becomes evident that they continue carrying aspects of their originating essence with…
Around us is a whole visually recognisable world. As we grow we observe and begin to understand these places more, little by little. The landscape around my house is probably very different from what you see when you open the window in the morning. This world catalogs us, analyses us and includes us. Everything around…
if i sang the blues would that be new ? or knew ? would boos follow blues ? would blood follow, bud, flower, flow, ‘sang–froid’, cold-blooded, hot-blooded, male :: if i sang frigid would that be cool ? jazzy ? jizz, buzz, the word :: do i have the rite to write the body ? the…
Cape Town based analogue photographer Carl van der Linde’s images carry this quality, this almost unexplainable ability to make you long for places you’ve never been and for people you’ve never met. The images somehow evoke such a overwhelming sense of nostalgia that while scrolling through his impressive—albeit comparatively small—catalogue of work I’m left with…
I believe that the sea will always be an inspiration to art; it is vast, great, and mysterious. Those who venture out into the unknown and cross over are brave, but what about the other side? What lays waiting there? Beyond a division of the skyline, the meeting of the sea with the sky is…
“On moonlight nights the long, straight street and dirty white walls, nowhere darkened by the shadow of a tree, their peace untroubled by footsteps or a dog’s bark, glimmered in the pale recession. The silent city was no more than an assemblage of huge, inert cubes, between which only the mute effigies of great men,…
